☆ Chapter 8

Compared to reality, Ling Shaoze had made some adjustments to his main avatar’s appearance in the game. For instance, his black mid-length hair had become long silver hair down to the waist, and his dark brown eyes had turned into azure blue. His slightly chubby, youthful-looking face had also been fine-tuned.

Additionally, his height increased from 178cm to 183cm (the system allowed a maximum height adjustment of ±5cm).

As a result, the final appearance presented was: the originally gorgeous and delicate Eastern boy with black hair and black eyes had become a refined and handsome Western youth with silver hair and blue eyes, with about 80% similarity in facial features.

If Ling Shaoze’s real appearance could be described as breathtaking at first glance, then after adjustment, it was the type that grew more attractive the longer you looked. If one had to rate them, his real appearance would be a perfect 10, and the tweaked version a close 9.8.

Ling Shaoze was very satisfied with the handsome game avatar he had carefully crafted. He even hoped he would grow up in real life following this trajectory. After all, what man needed to look so delicate and pretty?

However, the transformation skill tied to the “Beauty That Brings Calamity” title couldn’t be activated until his main avatar reached level 10. Moreover, the female character’s face couldn’t be manually adjusted to his liking—it would be automatically generated by the game system based on his real-life appearance.

Ling Shaoze was slightly disappointed by that, but since he intended to treat the female character like a daughter, it made sense that a father couldn’t fully dictate how their child looked.

To “give birth” to his daughter quickly, Ling Shaoze’s top priority now was to level up—level up!

Ling Shaoze met up with Pang Wenguang, a warrior, in the newbie village called Edelis.

For Priests, it was hard to level up early in the game without help. Fortunately, Pang Wenguang had already promised to support him. He also had two other classmates joining in the game.

In real life, Pang Wenguang was a fair-skinned, cute chubby little guy, 176cm tall—2cm shorter than Ling Shaoze. But in the game, he had become a tall, bronze-skinned, muscular hunk standing at 186cm, wielding a meteor hammer.

Upon seeing him, Ling Shaoze was shocked. “Guangguang, how did you get so tall?”

Pang Wenguang chuckled. “The warrior class has a height increase limit of 10cm—you can’t decrease it.”

Ling Shaoze: Envy, confirmed! He wanted to grow 10cm taller too!

However, if he had chosen to become a mighty, burly warrior, he’d most likely have no chance of getting close to any of the top-ranking gods. As someone who was terrible at sports, he didn’t believe his melee skills in the game would ever be good enough to pull off a love-hate dynamic with a rank-one powerhouse.

Pang Wenguang examined Ling Shaoze’s game avatar for a while. “A’Ze, your look is actually really attractive—irresistible to both men and women. You could top or bottom depending on the situation.”

Ling Shaoze appreciated that kind of compliment. At least people no longer said he looked prettier than a woman and was obviously a bottom at first glance.

Pang Wenguang’s in-game ID was Radiant Glory ^[1]Guanghua Wanqian. The two of them formed a party and began their journey to level up.

Pang Wenguang’s two classmates had spawned in a different novice village, and players couldn’t leave their starting area until they reached level 10, so they couldn’t meet up just yet.

The two accepted a few errand quests from NPCs around the village and took on some monster-hunting missions in a nearby grove, involving wild rabbits, boars, and wolves.

Ling Shaoze had played quite a few games before, but they were all combat-oriented professions. Plus, he wasn’t shy about spending money—so he could be considered an advanced player.

But this was his first time playing a healer, and what’s more, it was a full-dive holographic gameplay instead of a keyboard control. At first, Ling Shaoze was a bit flustered and clumsy.

Thankfully, he had good spatial awareness, and since their level were still low , the priest class only had two basic skills: Minor Heal and Basic Holy Light technique. With Pang Wenguang tanking as a warrior, grinding XP below level 10 went smoothly.

Three hours later, both of them had reached level 10 and were ready to leave the Edelis newbie village for Maplewood Town, where they could learn more advanced skills.

Just then, Pang Wenguang received a call.

After a moment, he turned to Ling Shaoze. “A-Ze, I have to log off for a bit. My robot butler just told me that Lilith is sick. I need to take her to the vet. I’ll send you my two friends’ player cards—why don’t you go find them first? I’ve already told them about you.”

Lilith was Pang Wenguang’s cat—a fat orange tabby. Ling Shaoze had seen plenty of her photos and videos.

Now that he had reached level 10, Ling Shaoze was itching to try out his special skill “Red-faced Calamity” somewhere private and see what his daughter’s in-game form looked like.

Suddenly transforming into a delicate and charming girl was something he wasn’t quite ready to do in front of new friends—especially ones who were all about being tall, cool, and badass.

Hearing Pang Wenguang’s words, Ling Shaoze quickly said, “Go on—Lilith is more important. I’d like to play solo for a bit anyway.”

Pang Wenguang didn’t say more. He knew Ling Shaoze would probably be too shy to meet new people without him around.

After all, games didn’t require you to always stick with people you knew in real life. Especially when Ling Shaoze had an ambitious dream—to woo all seven top-ranked male gods in the game.

Pang Wenguang waggled his eyebrows and chuckled. “Then good luck, A-Ze! Even if you can’t snag a top-ranked god, you can still charm some badass combat-class cutie! That should be easy for you. While we were grinding earlier, a bunch of girls and guys were hovering nearby, trying to chat you up. Just don’t act so cold and unapproachable.”

Ling Shaoze shot back, annoyed, “Get lost.”

Pang Wenguang quickly logged off on the spot.

Ling Shaoze thought to himself, If my luck’s really that bad and I really can’t hook even one of the seven top-ranked gods, then I guess I’ll have to lower my standards—try for the rank two or three players instead…

He also wondered if that Pervert Y could monitor his in-game actions. If it was possible, Ling Shaoze was more than ready to do whatever it took to piss him off and drive him away.

Even seducing the number one priest—a sweet, demure beauty named Qing Ruo? If it came to that, sure, why not? After all, the worst that would happen in-game was holding hands, hugging, or a quick kiss. It wasn’t like anything explicit could go down.

Of course, Ling Shaoze would never play with someone’s feelings. He knew better than to drive off one Pervert Y only to attract another. Before getting into anything serious with anyone, he’d be upfront: all he wanted was a short-term romance—weekly fling at best, monthly at most. He’d be a scumbag, but at least an honest one.

To get from Edelis Village to Maplewood Town, there were a few options:
— Use a teleportation array (fast but pricey, 100 gold): arrives in one minute.
— Rent a carriage (cheap, just 2 gold): takes 30 minutes.
— Or walk the whole way, which meant trekking through monster-infested woods, up a mountain path, and finally across a peaceful but vast maple forest. That would take about two hours.

Once a player hit level 10, they could start topping up their account. Ling Shaoze had no shortage of cash—he immediately loaded 100,000 star coins, which gave him 100,000 gold in-game.

Still, he chose to walk. He wanted to find a quiet spot along the way to activate his transformation skill.

With that in mind, Ling Shaoze hit the road—walking and walking, and walking some more…

He turned down countless conversations from strangers, and after what felt like a hundred years of walking, he finally reached the deepest part of the maple forest—an area with the fewest people around—when his legs were about to give out.

Patting his head in frustration, he muttered, “If I’d known, I would’ve just taken the damn carriage and gotten off early. Why did I walk this far?”

But then again, if he hadn’t walked the whole way, he wouldn’t have known where the crowded and quiet spots were. And NPC-driven carriages didn’t offer mid-route stops anyway.

Satisfied that no one was nearby—just a few harmless low level 1–5 non-aggressive monsters—Ling Shaoze finally opened his game interface.

What he didn’t know was that ever since he left the forest outside the newbie village, a certain pervert had switched to his stealthiest alt: “Shadowless,” a rank-one assassin with max agility and stealth skills, and had been quietly tailing him the entire time.

That very same top assassin god, Wuying^[2]Shadowless, was now perched silently on a tree branch several meters away, closely watching the boy to see what he was up to.

Earlier, He Yi had just arrived in the outskirts of the newbie zone using his most “charming” character—a swordsman—only to remember that after level 10, you couldn’t enter the newbie village without a quest due to newbie protection policies.

So instead, he’d set up a temporary “office” near a wild monkey spawn area just beyond the forest, using the in-game space to handle a few non-confidential work matters.

He figured it was as good a chance as any to train his anti-interference ability.

When Ling Shaoze left the newbie village, He Yi, who had been tracking his coordinates, immediately rushed over.

Originally, He Yi had planned to approach him under the persona of Yijian Fenghou, but he happened to witness Ling Shaoze rejecting an invitation from another swordsman.

He Yi immediately stopped in his tracks.

That swordsman, though still a newbie, had a very well-sculpted handsome face—elegant and dashing. So why would Ling Shaoze turn him down?

Was it that the boy didn’t like that type of look? Or did he dislike the swordsman class altogether?

Thirty years ago, He Yi’s immediate superior, Zhuo Yingbai’s older brother Zhuo Yingsong, retired from military service due to an injury and transitioned to business. He founded Zhuo Games Unlimited. During its early days, funding was tight, and He Yi personally lent Zhuo Yingsong a large sum of money, without asking for any company shares—just told that Zhuo Yingsong to repay him once he was financially stable.

With multiple businesses and even two small mining planets under his name, He Yi wasn’t short on money.

Zhuo Yingsong, however, remained deeply grateful. Even though He Yi never asked for anything, Zhuo Games Unlimited would always gift him an SVIP account and a top-spec military-grade game pod for every new game they released.

However, He Yi had been preoccupied with military engagements over the years and never had time to play holographic games. It wasn’t until the Zerg tide ended half a year ago, and life became a bit more relaxed, that he finally decided to casually try out the newly released Eternal Legend.

His SVIP account allowed him to create an alternate character for every class, with no 50% limit on appearance customization. He could shape the avatar however he liked. But He Yi had no patience for that and just used the system’s random generator.

Considering his original appearance rated a full 10 in charm, the generated alts—though differing in style—still averaged between 9.5 and 9.9 in looks.

Yet when faced with Ling Shaoze, who showed zero reaction even to his real appearance, He Yi lacked confidence. So, he planned to secretly observe the young man’s preferences and temperament, and then choose a form that most suited his tastes before formally showing up.

As the saying goes, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.” Reconnaissance and research were absolutely necessary.

He Yi, the certified pervert and stalker, gave himself a high-sounding excuse.

What puzzled He Yi was: given Ling Shaoze’s wealth and personality, even if he didn’t choose to use the teleportation array, he should’ve taken a carriage—so why was he walking to Maple Town?

And now, he’d deliberately gone deep into the remote part of the maple forest. The kid was clearly planning to do something he didn’t want anyone to see.

He Yi hesitated—should he watch or not?

During Eternal Legend’s beta testing, there had once been a sleazy player who tried to remove all his clothes… The system, of course, didn’t allow it. Not only did the player get a warning, but he also received the punishment title “Pervert” floating above his head, which only disappeared after three days.

He Yi’s expression turned a little strange. The young man had deliberately raised his height and adjusted his appearance to look more mature and low-key. Now, hiding deep in the maple forest, could it be… was he really planning to take off his pants and check if Little Ling Jr. had gotten any bigger?

After all, back in the infirmary that night, when the young man discovered the significant “difference” between the two brothers, he’d clearly taken it to heart. He even went out of his way to explain that he was still young and would continue to grow in the future.

Mr. Y, the perverted stalker, was now filled with inappropriate thoughts and began to hesitate—
Should he step out and stop this?!

What if, over the next three days, the boy ended up with the unshakable “Pervert” title hovering over his head, and got so mortified he didn’t want to play the game anymore?

But if the boy realized someone was watching what he was about to do, he’d definitely hate that person with a passion. In that case, forget building favor—this avatar’s likability with Ling Shaoze would instantly drop to -100.

Better to wait and see what the boy’s next move was before acting.

At the very least, the boy didn’t look like he was about to actually drop his pants off—yet.

Meanwhile, while the pervy marshal was busy fantasizing, Ling Shaoze had already tapped the “Red-faced Calamity” skill on his game panel—a one-click gender-switch transformation.

In the next moment, a flash of brilliant white light swept over him. When it faded, the elegant young priest in white robes was gone. In his place stood a petite mage girl with snow-like skin and blazing red clothes, jet-black hair and eyes, and a face so stunningly perfect she hardly seemed real.

This little mage girl bore an 80–90% resemblance to Ling Shaoze’s real-world striking and flamboyant looks, but her features were softer, more delicate. Her height was also much shorter—roughly 155 cm.

Though her chest was flat and her frame petite, just judging by her face, she was a classic enchantress—a femme fatale who could bring kingdoms to ruin.

He Yì, hiding in the shadows: …?!

The newly transformed, cross-dressing, loli-version of his little darling was way too cute and gorgeous! Off-the-charts in both charm and beauty!

Until he met someone he actually liked, He Yì had never been sure if he was into men or women. After that one night with Ling Shaoze, he’d assumed he liked men. But now, seeing Ling Shaoze dressed as a girl, he realized—if it was Ling Shaoze, even as a girl… that wasn’t off the table.

Suddenly, he felt two hot streams running down his nose. So distracted was he that he completely forgot that his stealth and invisibility skills had reached their time limit.

When he hurriedly raised a hand to wipe the nosebleed, he accidentally rustled some branches, startling a small bird on the treetop near him.

The fluttering bird drew Ling Shaoze’s attention as he was admiring his new appearance, and he looked up—

His eyes met those of the top-ranked assassin in all the game, dressed in black: Wuying.

Startled, Ling Shao Ze yelped, “Oh my god… pervert!”

It was bad enough to run into a Pervert Y in real life—why was he running into another one in-game? Was he cursed to attract creeps no matter where he went?!

Then, as soon as he spoke, he realized—not only had he turned into a girl, but his voice had changed too. Soft, sweet, a total loli tone. In that moment, he kind of felt like a pervert himself.

And that creep in the tree still wiping a nosebleed… looked oddly familiar…

Ling Shao Ze quickly forgot about admiring his newly born “daughter,” whom he’d affectionately named “Ling Guoguo,” and slapped his forehead in realization.

“You’re that guy… Wuying, right?”

The top-ranked assassin in the entire game!

Just yesterday, Ling Shaoze had watched a video of this guy—coming and going like a shadow, slitting throats or stabbing hearts from behind, killing with a single blow. So he had a strong impression of that pale, sickly, decadent, and world-weary pretty face.

Among the top seven ranked players, if he had to pick the one hardest to approach, it was this assassin god whose looks practically screamed “keep your distance.” Just one glance, and you’d know—this guy is not a good person.

Yet who would’ve thought… this guy actually has a secret hobby of stalking people?!

No, wait. Assassins do need to stalk people when doing their jobs…

Then a terrifying thought struck him. The cute, black-haired, black-eyed little loli widened her round, pretty eyes in shock:
“Don’t tell me… someone hired you to kill me?!”

After all, what other reason could there be for the top-ranked assassin to be following a complete newbie who just left the novice village?

And the only person who both had a grudge against him and knew he was playing this holographic game… was that real-life pervert, Y!

Pervert Y had gone too far! Not only did he stop him from “exploring the harmony of life” with hot guys in real life—now he was even sending people after him in a game?!

And worst of all, in front of Wuying, he had just accidentally revealed that he could use a female alt!

He Yi (aka Wuying) felt a bit complicated.

All because of a nosebleed outing him, the very first alt he revealed in front of Ling Shaoze—Wuying—was now being labeled a pervert by the kid!

Even worse, judging by that suspicious look in the boy’s eyes, he clearly suspected that Wuying’s current behavior… might have been ordered by someone from real life.

Ahem, well… not entirely wrong.

The top-ranked assassin Wuying wiped away the last traces of a nosebleed that really didn’t suit his cold and aloof face, and hesitated to speak. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again—

And in the end, all he could manage was a dry and awkward:
“No, I was just passing by.”

He even tried to act as cold and indifferent as possible.

But the faint blush on his pale face, the redness creeping up his ears, and the blood he had just wiped away all betrayed his very not-so-indifferent heart.

Once Ling Shaoze was finally convinced that “Wuying” hadn’t been sent to assassinate him, he relaxed. Then he noticed how Wuying kept sneaking glances his way—and quickly looking away in embarrassment.

Immediately, Ling Shaoze came up with a new theory.

One man stalking another man—no intention to kill, no bad blood—and then getting a nosebleed the moment he saw him transform into a girl…

What did that mean? It meant Wuying was having pervy thoughts about him!

He probably only had mild interest (two or three points out of ten) in his main avatar, but now, judging by how flustered he looked, that had shot up to a solid seven or eight points!

Oh my god—who would’ve thought that the cold-blooded, top-ranked assassin with that dangerous, villainous, yandere-pretty-boy face… was actually a loli-con in private?!

So. Freaking. Perverted!

He Yi didn’t know how it had come to this, but the more the little guy looked at him, the more it felt like he was being stared at as a full-blown pervert. Jumping down from the tree and landing next to Ling Shaoze, he hurried to explain, “I really don’t have any bad intentions toward you…”

Ling Shaoze’s original purpose was to flirt with the top-ranking players, and Wuying was definitely within his hunting range. Now, barely into the game and already bumping into him—and the other party seemed to already have taken a liking to him—if not now, when was he supposed to strike?

He didn’t even care anymore that his “daughter’s” height had been so drastically reduced, which had originally been the thing that bothered him most. The fiery red-robed, adorable and beautiful little girl didn’t retreat but advanced, getting close to the black-clad assassin god and asking in a sweet, crisp, delicate loli voice:

“Wuying-gege, do I look pretty like this?”

He Yi, wearing the mask of top assassin Wuying, was startled by the sudden closeness of the “little girl’s” face and reflexively took a step back:
“Y-Yeah, very pretty.”

But then Ling Shaoze stepped two paces closer:
“Then do you like it?”

He Yi took another step back.

His inner thoughts: Like!
But he didn’t dare say it.

It was already bad enough that he had impure thoughts about Ling Shaoze in his usual boyish appearance. But now, even when he saw him dressed up as a little girl, he still actually thought it was also fine. No—he thought it was great. Worse—he even really, really wanted to kiss her, hug her, and lift her up in the air…

This is too, too messed up! What a total pervert!

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Author’s note:

I haven’t really played many major online games myself—I get motion sickness from 3D—so all the game settings are just me making stuff up. Please don’t take it too seriously; the main focus here is on the romance, hehehe.

If you enjoyed it, please remember to add it to your favorites! And if you could toss a flower or two my way, I’d be super grateful!

Mwah~

T/n: New chapter is up! Well here’s the first meeting with first Gong..how do you like it😏😏😏😏😏😏 Seriously it’s so funny 🤣 nd the misunderstandingsss START!🤣 Stay tuned for more🥰. You can support the original author here. If you’re enjoying what I’m doing you can buy me a Ko-fi. Happy Reading 💐😀.